The Yellowish Flycatcher, Empidonax flavescens, is a small passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the tyrant flycatcher

Tyrant flycatcher

The tyrant flycatchers are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds on Earth, with more than 400 species. They are the most diverse avian family in every country in the Americas, except for the United States and...

 family. It breeds in highlands from southeastern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 south to western Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

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This species is found in cool mountain forest, especially at the edges and in clearings, and in second growth and bushy pastures. It breeds from 800 m to nearly 2500 m altitude. The deep cup nest is made of plant fibre and mosses, and placed 2–4.5 m high in a crevice in a tree trunk or earth bank. The typical clutch is two or three white eggs, marked with pale rufous speckles. Incubation by the female is 14–15 days to hatching, with another 17 days to fledging.

The Yellowish Flycatcher is 12.5 cm long and weighs 12 g. Its upper parts are olive-green and the underparts are yellow with an ochre tint to the breast. The wings are blackish with two buff wing bars. It has a white eye ring broadening into a small triangle behind the eye. Sexes are similar, but young birds are browner above and paler yellow below. The call is a thin seeep and the dawn song is a rapid repeated seee seee chit.

This species needs to be distinguished from migratory

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

 Empidonax species, since several species, including Willow

Willow Flycatcher

The Willow Flycatcher is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.Adults have brown-olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have an indistinct white eye ring, white wing bars and a small bill. The breast is washed with olive-grey. The upper...

, Alder

Alder Flycatcher

The Alder Flycatcher, Empidonax alnorum, is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.Adults have olive-brown upperparts, browner on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars, a small bill and a short tail. The breast is washed with...

 and Acadian Flycatcher

Acadian Flycatcher

The Acadian Flycatcher is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.- Description :Adults have olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars and a wide bill. The breast is washed with olive. The upper part of...

s pass through in the autumn. It has a more prominent eye ring than any migrant species, and despite that species’ name, is yellower below than Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.Adults have brownish-olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with yellowish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars, a small bill and a short tail...

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Yellowish Flycatchers are active birds, usually seen alone when not breeding. They eat insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s, spider

Spider

Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

s and some small berries

Berry

The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....

. The prey is gleaned from the foliage, taken in flight in short sallies, or sometimes picked from the ground.